15 - Making the best of an awkward situation

[ichoosefight]

Hey, guys, you know if you need clothes Bianca doesn't need a special office to make or adjust them, right? Just thought I'd remind you all. And I've got some of my sister's clothes if anybody needs 'em. Men's clothes are way easier.

[ Steph knows exactly who she was yesterday, but giving it away right at the start wouldn't be any fun, now would it? Still, she's happy to lend out her clothes and make adjustments so that she has something to wear too. ]

If you don't have anything to wear to pick up new clothes, lemme know. I'll bring you a towel, if nothing else.

And try not to get too excited about your new bodies. They're temporary, remember? [ Side-eyeing you, John. ]

Comments

[hellofist]

It's fine. Was a suggestion for you, not me. Can handle you looking.

[She says it offhand because it honestly doesn't matter to her if Steph looks or not. If she needs to look away, that's fair. If she peeks, Cass doesn't mind. It's nothing she hasn't seen, no matter what body she's in.

She doesn't rush as she undresses, and then has to take the time to turn the bikini around in her hands, trying to find the up. She's only worn one of these once, they still don't make a whole lot of sense to her.]

[ichoosefight]

[ Wow, what does she even do now? She can't answer, that's for sure. She sort of curls up, treading water mostly with her hands, and faces the opposite wall and tries not to accidentally turn at all.

She's starting to think she understands the term 'blue balls' now. ]

[hellofist]

[Before too much longer, there's a splash as Cass joins Steph in the pool, all the bits to cause problems safely covered up. Of course she's also wet now, but that's neither here nor there. She swims up behind Steph, then taps her shoulder.]

Can look now. You're safe.

[ichoosefight]

[ She practically jumps out of her skin at the tap, which is ironic, because that's what she'd really like to do just now. Instead she spins around so that her knees are still up and smiles at her friend. ]

Hiya.

[ Goddamnit, she looks really good in that bikini too. Even with all the scars, it just works. ]

[hellofist]

[Cass treads water close to Steph and doesn't move away when the spinning happens, just wipes the water from her face and focuses on that smile. It's entirely Steph, even if it is on the face of Stephen.]

Hello. Is that comfortable?

[She nods to the way Steph's knees are up, meaning that entirely and not the condition of her crotch. She is in no way asking if it's comfortable to have an erection you have to hide, but if Steph wants to interpret it that way...]

[ichoosefight]

[ She is just going to assume that the combo of knees and swim trunks are doing their job and hiding the unwanted boner. ]

Yup, totally comfortable. It's like exercise, just in the water.

[hellofist]

[This is just getting to be ridiculous, but Steph's knees are up high enough that Cass can reach under the water to put a hand on one and give it a push down.]

I already know. Just relax.

[ichoosefight]

[ She dips down under the water with Cass' gentle push so that her nose is almost touching the surface, turning ever brighter shades of pink.

Look at these puppy eyes, Cass. Don't you feel sorry for her plight? ]

[hellofist]

[Anyone else and she would leave. She would become frustrated with this, avoidance of something so simple and unimportant in the grand scheme of things, because it's only a body reacting to stimulus and if there's anything Cass understands it's that.

But it's Stephanie, no matter the body, so she leans in and kisses her forehead.]

It's fine. I'm not upset.

[ichoosefight]

[ Her head comes up enough so that she can speak without choking on water. ]

I'm not really-- I mean, I don't really know what the hell is happening but it is deeply uncomfortable.

[ She's not even entirely sure what she's embarrassed about. Who knew penises could cause so much confusion? ]

[hellofist]

It's natural. Bodies do this.

[She moves her hand to Steph's hair now, pushing it back and feeling it slip through her fingers. She likes it short like this, but she misses the long blond strands she could be twisting around her fingers.]

Boy bodies don't hide things, they speak loudly. It's the body, so don't... feel weird, about it.

[ichoosefight]

[ Wow Cass that is really only making everything harder. ]

Yeah, with boys! It's not supposed to do it with your best friend.

[ Stephanie look at your life, look at your choices ]

[hellofist]

[Literally or figuratively?]

Well, it is. It's fine, I don't mind.

[ichoosefight]

[ Both. ]

I just, this is a weird new thing for me, you know? It's not personal.

[ Also not one-hundred percent new, if she really thinks about it. But still totally confusing. ]

[hellofist]

I know. It won't last.

[She takes her hand away after then and stays silent for a few moments before starting to move away.]

I'll leave. Will be easier, for you.

[ichoosefight]

I can't do anything right today.

[ Excuse her, she is just going to dunk her head underwater and stay there as long as she can hold her breath.

Which is really a lot shorter than you might expect from a well-trained vigilante. ]

[hellofist]

[But that isn't a request to stay, so Cass continues her walk towards the stairs of the pool, slowed significantly by the drag of the water. She isn't in a hurry, not really.]

It isn't you. It's the ship.

[ichoosefight]

It's a little me.

[ She knows she's being dumb, but she can't really control this sort of instinctive embarrassed reaction to publicly visible arousal. ]

[hellofist]

[Well that gets her to stop, to glance back towards Stephanie.]

You haven't ever... had this body language, though. Not towards me.

[Or at the very least it was before Cass knew what to look for, or she wasn't looking too hard for it because of Tim.]

[ichoosefight]

[ She can't really help the puppy eyes. ]

But I don't feel any different, just being in a different body.

[ So something has to have changed. This isn't happening just because she's a boy. It can't be. ]

[hellofist]

[Not puppy eyes. Now Cass takes a few steps back to Steph, frowning.]

If I hug you... will it be weird?

[You can't look that depressed Stephanie it's absolutely cheating.]

[ichoosefight]

[ Ever so helplessly: ] I don't know.

[ But she could totally use a hug. Just. You know. No hip touching. ]

[hellofist]

[Cass goes back to Steph and, keeping her hips far, far away from any awkward zones, gives her best friend a hug. She doesn't want her to be sad, she doesn't like being the cause of Stephanie being sad.

More than anything, though, she doesn't like being the cause of Stephen reacting in a way that makes Stephanie ashamed.]

I'm sorry.

[ichoosefight]

[ Steph gives her a best-friend squeeze in return, twisting to keep any awkward zones as far away from each other as humanly possible.

She knows that it's stupid. She knows she has nothing to be ashamed of. She knows that Cass is her friend and no weirdness is going to ruin that.

And yet, here they are. ]

Me too.

[hellofist]

We don't have to... ever talk about this, if you don't want to.